America was a bigger 1970's band than an 80's band, but
as you will read, the band did have some early 80's hits. America
was actually formed in London by sons of American servicemen in the UK.
By the early 1970's, the band hand garnered the attention of radio
execs, and their debut hit shelves in 1971. After meeting with
early success, the band decided to relocate themselves to Los Angeles.

America may be best known for their first hit song, "A
Horse With No Name", which was released as a single and then re-released
on a re-release of their first release (sound confusing?). Of
course America had several other notable 70's songs: "I Need You"
from America (1971), "Don't Cross the River", "Only in Your
Heart", and "Ventura Highway" from Homecoming (1972), "Tin
Man" and "Lonely People" from Holiday (1974), "Sister Golden
Hair" and "Daisy Jane" from Hearts (1975), and "Today's the Day"
from Holiday (1976).

In the 80's, America
released 4 albums: Alibi (1980),
View From the Ground(1982), Your Move (1983), and Perspective
(1984). Many of you may remember the songs "Right Before Your
Eyes" & "You Can Do Magic" from 1982, and even "The
Border" from 1983. As the 80's rolled on, America began
popularizing their music to more closely match the music of the day,
which essentially caused fewer album sales. Although the band did
not produce again until the mid 1990's, they continued to tour. At
the time of this writing in early 2013, America was still active on the
tour circuit with a new studio release as late as 2011. The
current America Discography is as follows:

1971: America

1972: Homecoming

1973: Hat Trick

1974: Holiday

1975: Hearts

1975: History: America's Greatest Hits

1976: Hideaway

1977: Harbor

1977: Live

1979: Silent Letter

1980: Alibi

1982: View from the Ground

1983: Your Move

1984: Perspective

1985: In Concert

1991: Encore: More Greatest Hits

1994: Hourglass

1995: In Concert King Biscuit Live

1996: King Biscuit Flower Hour

1998: Human Nature

2000: Highway

2001: The Definitive America

2001: The Complete Greatest Hits

2002: The Grand Cayman Concert

2002: Holiday Harmony

2007: Here & Now

2008: Live in Concert: Wildwood Springs

2011: Back Pages

1982View from the Ground

YOU CAN
DO MAGIC:[chorus] You can do magic,
You can have anything that you desire,
Magic,
And you know you're the one who can put out the
fire,
You know darned well when you cast your spell,
You will get your way when you hypnotize with
your eyes [etc]